


Paths

by scifinut



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-08
Updated: 2011-09-07
Packaged: 2017-10-23 12:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/250521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifinut/pseuds/scifinut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While off between job assignments, Donna is convinced by her Gramps to take a holiday in Cardiff. While there she has the pleasure of becoming acquainted with one Ianto Jones and finding out that all is not as it seems. Set after Runaway Bride but before S4, and prior to Everything Changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It had been almost a year for Donna since her bizarre encounter with the alien who called himself only The Doctor. She'd gone away on holiday a few times since then, and ever time she'd come back, her mates had given her some sort of story about aliens floating around and destroying things. All she knew was Canary Wharf looked like a bomb had gone off, and since she had been working just a few blocks away, she had been out of a job. Again.

The temp agency she worked with was again going through a shortage of jobs, which left Donna with just enough time for another holiday, but not enough money for a good one. So here she was in Cardiff on her gramps' suggestion. Wales was far enough away to be a nice holiday away from her Mum, but close enough that she could be home within the day if the Temp agency gave her a call saying she had another job.

Gramps had suggested she go to the Millennium Centre and take some pictures for him. It was some place he'd always wanted to see, but even the train ride was too long for him. She smiled, walking around. It was a beautiful little plaza, and the pillar was interesting too. It looked like the water just ran down into the ground, under the cement. The illusion was nice, and she wanted to see what it looked like at night. There was plenty of time for her to wander around, see what there was. Gramps had told her there was a little tourism information area around the corner and down along the bayside. Not the most beautiful of bays that she'd been to, but better than London. At this point, anything was better than London.

She walked into the unassuming door on the docks and was surprised to see a young man in a full suit sitting behind the desk. "Welcome to Cardiff, ma'am," he said politely. He smiled while she looked through some of the brochures. "Anything in particular you're looking to see while you're here?"

"Not really, I'm just down from London." She paused, looking at him. He was young, but cute. Very cute. In a fresh-faced, well-dressed sort of way. She smiled back. "Actually, I need a good place to eat, and a hotel nearby. I've got to come back tonight for some photos for my gramps." She leaned against the counter, brochures forgotten.

"Well," the young man began, "there's not much near here as far as hotels." He stood up and pointed over toward the map that was on the counter. "You'll have to go further North for those, closer to downtown. As far as food, though, you're in the right place." He knew he was laying on the charm, but this woman seemed to be sending it right back. "There's all sorts of places within a few blocks, what are you looking for?"

"Something classy. Maybe Asian? Any good noodle shops around?" She waited while he thought. "I'm Donna, by the way. Donna Noble."

The man looked up and grinned at her. He looked so young when he did that. "Ianto Jones. Pleasure to meet you." He picked out one brochure and handed it to her, opening it and pointing something out. "Right here. Within a few blocks, it's called wagamama, and I think you'd really like it." He pointed out another place on the map. "And afterwards, there's several shops and boutiques right here in Mermaid Quay. Eva's looks like something you'd enjoy. You can get some frames for the photos for your granddad."

Donna laughed a bit. She had completely forgotten that she'd mentioned getting pictures for him. "That sounds brilliant." She went to take the map from Ianto, her fingers brushing against his.

"Wait a moment," he said, reaching down onto the desk. He didn't let go, and neither did she. He pulled a pen out and marked the restaurant and the shops he recommended for her on the map of the Quay. "There's also art everywhere, and lots of interesting things behind the corners. The hotels are mostly empty this time of year, so you shouldn't have a hard time finding a room."

Donna nodded and took the brochure into her hands, still grinning at Ianto. "Thank you, Ianto Jones. You've been more than helpful." One of her eyebrows raised. "If I need anything else, I'll be sure to come look you up."

"You do that, Donna Noble. And bring some of those pictures. The Plass is lovely at night, and it's always good to have things hanging. It's quite drab inside here," Ianto replied, gesturing around the plain room.

"I'll do that," Donna said, giving him a wink before heading back out the door. For once, she felt strangely familiar with this man she had just met. Maybe it was his looks, maybe it was his voice, or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, Donna felt her heart beating lighter than it had in a long time. Having someone, especially a stranger, treat her that kindly was something that didn't happen too often.

\-------------------

After a nice day spent shopping for the perfect gifts for her mum and gramps for Christmas, Donna headed back to the Plass for evening photos. It wasn't something she did too often, but since Gramps had asked for it, she wasn't going to tel him no.

It wasn't quite dark yet, so she walked around a few side streets, enjoying being away from home. Mum wasn't going to complain that she was out all night, and she could do what she wanted, not worrying about when she had to have the car back.

There was yelling from nearby, and the sound of footsteps coming nearer. And by footsteps, it sounded like there was practically an army running straight toward her. Headed by some sort of giant pig or something. Whatever it was, it was grunting and making lots of noise, and it sounded pretty terrifying, actually. There were a few explosions out of the darkness, some sort of gunshot, and a creature came skidding to a stop within a few feet of where she stood. It was face down on the ground, but something was wrong with its head. It was DEFINITELY not human.

Though she wasn't new to aliens, she was new to having a gun go off and an alien fall dead at her feet, and it was all she could do to keep from screaming. Three men and two women ran forward to surround the alien, and one of the men stepped forward and grabbed her by her upper arms, leading her a few feet away. "Donna," he said, somewhat surprised.

"Ianto?" she replied, at a loss to find him here, with all of this going on. Didn't he work in a tourist centre? "What the HELL is that thing? And don't try to tell me some freak from the sewers, 'cause I know an alien when I see one. And what are YOU doing here?"

There was a pause while Ianto took in what Donna had said. He kept walking her further from the body and the rest of Torchwood. "It's a Weevil. They actually do live in the sewers, and this one just got out. Went a bit more feral than the rest of them, but it's fine now. And what do you know about aliens?" This was going to be an interesting report. He couldn't just retcon her now, Jack would have to get involved. There was no way around it. She'd probably still end up retconned for the event, but there was a possibility...though he didn't recognize her at all from having worked at Torchwood in London, and the survivor's list was fairly short.

Donna gave a snort. "I've had my go-round with a few of them. Almost married a puppet to an alien, got filled with all sorts of weird glowy particles, disappeared from my wedding, had to jump into a floating wooden box from a cab on the motorway and almost got eaten by a giant spider. Well, and now this, I suppose." She paused and edged as far from him as she could with his hands still on her arms. "You're not an alien, are you?"

Ianto chuckled and loosened his grip on her. "No, I'm just Welsh. I'm afraid it's not quite the same thing." He let go of her arms entirely. "Jack...my boss...is going to want to talk with you. It's standard procedure, I'm afraid. Anyone who sees something has to have a talk with Jack, but you'll be perfectly fine. And while you're doing that, if you'd like, I'll take the pictures for your granddad of the Millennium Centre and around the Plass."

"I'd like that," Donna responded. She edged closer to Ianto, still a bit unnerved by the group of people trying to drag an alien body through the streets of Cardiff. "I mean, I'd also like to take some, but at the same time, I don't think Granddad will know the difference. And I'm not the greatest with a camera. I tend to get pictures of people's hair or my thumb or something."

"I'll make sure you've got at least a few you can take back to him that are worth hanging on the fridge, if nothing else." Ianto didn't want this woman to forget what she had seen, to forget this conversation, but he knew it was going to happen. "Let's head down there now. The office is nearby, so you'll be close to where Jack wants us to be. Just wait a moment while I tell him." He hit a button on an ear piece that Donna hadn't noticed before. "Jack? I'm taking her back to the Plass now. We'll be by the elevator." He paused, listening to something. "No, you need to talk to her, she's seen things before." Another pause. "Understood. We'll be there." He hit the button again and turned back to Donna. "Well, apparently he wants to meet us in the Tourism Centre, so we'll head there first."

"What kind of boss is he? I mean, aliens and tourism? What place do you work for?" Donna looked confused, but seemed to be coping with it quite well.

"Torchwood," Ianto responded. "I work for Torchwood." His voice was somewhat hollow, but he quickly changed his tone. "It's nothing terribly important, though. And as for what kind of boss he is, the best way to describe him is intense. Then again, everyone is intense at Torchwood. I don't think Toshiko even owns a television or radio at home. Suzie spends so many extra hours at the Hub I'm wondering if she doesn't just live there with Jack. And as far as Owen goes...well, Owen's got his own special way of dealing with life at Torchwood, but I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone what it was."

Donna nodded. "Sounds like you've got yourself quite a crowd. But is that all of you? And what sort of name is Torchwood? I mean, what is it you do with five people? Can't be too much. Are you lawyers? Some sort of intergalactic bounty hunters or something?"

Ianto actually laughed at that suggestion. "We're run from a secret mandate from Her Majesty the Queen Victoria. Our office is actually fairly small, the London branch was much larger. But they're gone now. And we're not lawyers. We protect Earth from aliens and other paranormal threats. And clean up pteranadon dung. But that's a much longer story."

"There are those...things in London?" Donna seemed somewhat surprised. "I mean, it's a big city and all, yeah, but you'd think someone would notice something like that running around."

"Are you implying that Cardiff is small?" Ianto raised an eyebrow in challenge. He didn't want to focus too much on London or Torchwood at the moment, and it seemed that diverting the topic was much easier.

Donna stopped and gave Ianto an amused look. "We have millions more people than you do. Are you really trying to imply that Cardiff's as big as London?"

"Seven million forty thousand, by latest census, actually. And you'd be surprised what seven million people don't notice on a day to day basis." He kept walking, waiting for Donna to catch up. Which she did, fairly quickly. "But no, no weevils in London. We actually studied other things there. Torchwood Tower was at Canary Wharf. One Canada Square, to be precise." He looked back at her over his shoulder.

"One Canada Square," Donna mumbled. "I almost got a job there, actually. But when they said I had to sign a confidentiality agreement and go through a background check, I didn't think it would end up being such a great job. I mean, if it's going to be exciting enough to have to sign an agreement, what would I have told my mates? Besides, I got another job soon enough."

Ianto was surprised. Donna Noble had almost gotten a job at Torchwood. She was close enough to know there was a confidentiality agreement, but not enough to recognize the name Torchwood. Must have been in one of the earliest hiring groups, before he or Lisa even heard about it. She was full of more surprises every day. He looked around for the first time in the walk and realized they were right outside the Tourism Centre. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, stepping in to turn the lights on in before holding the door open for Donna. He closed it behind them and left the Closed sign in the door. "Have a seat. Jack will be here as soon as he's able."

Donna sat down and looked up at the desk, where there was still a map of the Quay and all the shops. "Thanks for the tip, by the way. Lunch was excellent today, and the shops were fun." She smiled up at Ianto, remembering the last time they were in here. She had trusted him then, and still felt comfortable with him, even after what she'd seen. Maybe she trusted him more after that. He'd definitely protect her against aliens, instead of trying to feed her to them. Not sure what her mum would think of a Welshman, though.

"I'm glad you liked it. If you're back tomorrow, there's Ba Orient. It's just as good. Bellini's isn't bad either." There really wasn't much food in Mermaid Quay that was bad or that Ianto wouldn't recommend, but based on what he knew about Donna, she only wanted to hear a few places so she wouldn't be disappointed that she didn't get to try it all. Otherwise she might never go home. Which might be a good thought, but it would likely be a very bad idea.

The back door of the Centre opened, and Jack came out of the stone hallway. He nodded at Ianto, who nodded back. "Jack, Donna Noble. Donna, Jack Harkness, my boss." He stepped over to her and held a hand out for her purse. "If you'd like, I'll head out and start taking some of the photos."

Donna dug into her purse and handed Ianto the small digital camera. "Thanks again so much," she said. "I'll be out when I'm done, just don't get off too far with it."

"I'll just be in the Plass, I promise." He plastered a smile onto his face and turned and left. As soon as he was out the door, the smile fell. The next time he saw her, she wouldn't remember what had happened. He knew Jack wouldn't let her. It was a pity, really, Ianto thought. She had so much potential in her. If only she had signed that agreement, who knows what may have happened? But that time was gone, and there was no way to go back now to change it. It was time to take some photos to remember the present by when it had become the past, and move along.


	2. Frames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't leave well enough alone, Ianto would want Donna to have the pictures and frames she wanted.

It had been a long day. Torchwood had been busy and Ianto was late getting out of the Hub. There were also a few things he had to do at the information centre, so he had headed up that way and switched out some of the information. While it was rare that anyone came into the centre, it still had to be updated with the newest information. And Mermaid Quay had released their Holiday promotional material several weeks before. It might be a good idea to put it in there before the holidays were over.

The fog had come up from the bay and was shrouding everything in a smoky haze. Ianto smiled, it really was a beautiful place. It had only been a few weeks since they had confronted the Doctor about what had happened to Donna, and suddenly Ianto was reminded of the first time he met the woman. The way she had come into the information centre and had flirted with him. He was able to tell immediately how much she had cared for her grandfather and how much she had wanted to see. She had been very open about aliens and what she had known, but Jack had still decided that it was safer if she didn't remember most of that encounter.

He headed back down the invisible lift and surprised Jack, who had been working on some paperwork. "Something wrong?"

"No." Ianto shook his head. "I just needed to get a camera. I just thought of something." He headed over to Gwen's desk where he knew she kept a camera to document crime scenes. "By the way, the view of the fog on the bay is lovely tonight. Care to walk me to my car?"

Jack raised his eyebrows at the camera comment, but when he was offered a walk he grabbed his coat and slipped it over his shoulders. He silently took Ianto's hand and stepped up to the lift. "I'd love to."

When they got outside, Ianto slipped away to take a few pictures of the Millennium Centre and the rest of the Plass, catching the way the light was bouncing about. He smiled at Jack's confused response, which was to follow him closely and not ask questions until he was done. With a few pictures added of the waterfall, he turned back to Jack. "Thank you for waiting. Tomorrow I'll be needing a day off, there's something I need to do."

"What's going on?" Jack asked quietly as they headed toward Ianto's car. He didn't want to be worried about Ianto's sudden request, so he gave him a chance to answer.

Ianto sighed. "It's Donna. Do you remember when she first came in here a few years ago?" Jack nodded. "She was getting pictures for her grandfather. The view of the bay is just...beautiful. I thought of her. I'm going to take some pictures and visit her." Jack took a deep breath and began to speak. "Don't worry,"Ianto cut him off. "I'm not going to tell her anything. Just say she signed the guest book and I was visiting a friend in the area and thought of her. Good memory of addresses and all that. I think she'd be touched."

"You're probably right," Jack agreed. "Be careful, okay? The weather's supposed to be nasty tomorrow. If you need to, call Sarah Jane. I'm sure she'd let a nice young man like you crash overnight. And let me know how it goes, alright?" He leaned in close and took Ianto in his arms.

"Thank you, Jack." Ianto knew he would understand. He turned around and gave Jack a kiss. "I'll call you, I promise."

\-----------------------------

Ianto stood at the door nervously. He'd checked in with Sarah Jane and was heading back there for supper, but this was something he had to do alone. He'd stopped at a few shops in London before deciding on the correct frames for the photos he'd had printed, and he was silently praying that they would fit in with the decor of the home. Taking a deep breath and straightening his shoulders, he rang the bell.

Donna came and answered it, looking somewhat confused at the young man on her doorstep. "Yeah, can I help you?"

"Donna Noble?" Ianto began. "You may not remember me...Ianto Jones, from the Cardiff Tourism Centre." He smiled at her and tried not to act too awkwardly.

There was a bit of a smile and then some confusion. "Yeah, from the visit, hi." She raised an eyebrow. "How can I help you?"

Ianto reached into his bag and pulled out some photos in new frames. "I was in the area today and thought I'd bring these by. I remembered how much the pictures meant to you, and the Millennium Centre in the fog is beautiful."

Donna looked slightly more upset. "Yeah, but how'd you know where I live? You're not some sort of creeper, are you?"

Ianto shook his head and gave her another quick smile. "No, I just have a good memory. And your address was in the guest book you signed. I was literally in the area, just over in Ealing, as a matter of fact, and I thought I might stop by and give you some updated pictures."

A smile finally showed up on Donna's face. She reached out and took the pictures, looking at them. There were only five that Ianto had narrowed it down to, and only two that got to Donna. "Thank you," she said. She looked up at him and he winked at her. One of the photos had his mobile number on its back, in case she ever needed anything. He already knew hers, but wasn't about to tell her that.

"Happy Christmas," Ianto said before turning and heading back to his car. By the time he got there, the door was closed. He sighed and pulled out his mobile and called Jack. "It's done. And she didn't remember a thing. I'm having dinner with Sarah Jane, and I'll call you back to let you know if I'm staying tonight."

It had been a long day.


End file.
